White_Male_Canada
06-04-2007, 08:13 PM
Iran has increased arms shipments to both Iraq's Shiite extremists and Afghanistan's Taliban in recent weeks in an apparent attempt to pressure American and other Western troops operating in its two strategic neighbors, according to senior U.S. and European officials.
In Iraq, Iranian 240mm rockets, which have a range of up to 30 miles and could significantly change the battlefield, have been used recently by Shiite extremists against U.S. and British targets in Basra and Baghdad, the officials said. Three of the rockets have targeted U.S. facilities in Baghdad's Green Zone, and one came very close to hitting the U.S. Embassy in the Iraqi capital, according to the U.S. officials.
The 240mm rocket is the biggest and longest-range weapon in the hands of Shiite extremist groups, U.S. officials said. Remnants of the rockets bear the markings of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and are dated 2007, those sources said. The Tehran government has supplied the same weapon, known as the Fajr-3, to Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia.
The new arms supplies reflect an increasing boldness by Iran, according to U.S. officials and officials from NATO countries. The secretive Quds Force, the branch of the elite Revolutionary Guard in charge of Iran's special operations abroad, is said by the U.S. officials to be behind the arms flow to militants in both countries.
Two U.S. military raids netted seven Quds Force operatives, including two top commanders, in December and January. The five mid-level operatives captured in Irbil in January remain in U.S. custody, while the Iraqi government pressured U.S. forces into releasing the two senior commanders captured in Baghdad.
The Quds Force, commanded by Brig. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, has come under increasing scrutiny in the past year. Soleimani was among those targeted by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1747 for sanctions stemming from Tehran's failure to suspend uranium enrichment. Soleimani was identified in the resolution as one of the top officials engaged in nuclear or ballistic missile programs.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/02/AR2007060201020.html
In Iraq, Iranian 240mm rockets, which have a range of up to 30 miles and could significantly change the battlefield, have been used recently by Shiite extremists against U.S. and British targets in Basra and Baghdad, the officials said. Three of the rockets have targeted U.S. facilities in Baghdad's Green Zone, and one came very close to hitting the U.S. Embassy in the Iraqi capital, according to the U.S. officials.
The 240mm rocket is the biggest and longest-range weapon in the hands of Shiite extremist groups, U.S. officials said. Remnants of the rockets bear the markings of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and are dated 2007, those sources said. The Tehran government has supplied the same weapon, known as the Fajr-3, to Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia.
The new arms supplies reflect an increasing boldness by Iran, according to U.S. officials and officials from NATO countries. The secretive Quds Force, the branch of the elite Revolutionary Guard in charge of Iran's special operations abroad, is said by the U.S. officials to be behind the arms flow to militants in both countries.
Two U.S. military raids netted seven Quds Force operatives, including two top commanders, in December and January. The five mid-level operatives captured in Irbil in January remain in U.S. custody, while the Iraqi government pressured U.S. forces into releasing the two senior commanders captured in Baghdad.
The Quds Force, commanded by Brig. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, has come under increasing scrutiny in the past year. Soleimani was among those targeted by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1747 for sanctions stemming from Tehran's failure to suspend uranium enrichment. Soleimani was identified in the resolution as one of the top officials engaged in nuclear or ballistic missile programs.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/02/AR2007060201020.html